Final Fantasy: World
by NW330
Summary: After years of making FF games Square releases an online based game in the future that changes the world of games forever...or does it? R
1. Registry

Here is my own original Final Fantasy fic for you all. I'll try to make it enjoyable to read for you all.  
  
Here's a little background where I got the idea for this fic. I recently played .hack(I don't own the rights to it) and the online game they play is called "The World" so that is where the title and stuff came from just to let some of you know.  
  
I also don't own any of the Final Fantasy owned stuff either.  
  
Final Fantasy: World  
  
It was a usual day for me. It was almost summer time and this was the last day of school. It was supposed to be fun and happy, right? Not when you have finals and crap.  
  
I'm Eliot and I'm 17 years old in the 11th grade. I'm a big fan of RPG's especially Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series. I own all the versions of it for everything it's available for.  
  
It's the year 2024. Squaresoft has been making Final Fantasy's and other RPGs for years. Fans everywhere were crushed when we learned that Final Fantasy XXV would be the last one they'd make. Fans were mad but they bought the game and played it. The ending was sad mainly because of the game and because it would be the last game they'd make.  
  
I had beaten it a few days earlier and I loved it. I hadn't beaten all the sidequests yet but I had plenty of time to do since no more Final Fantasy.  
  
This final was going very slowly. I'd pass it at least but I couldn't concentrate knowing my summer would be boring just playing Final Fantasy's I've beaten dozens of times again and again.  
  
After finishing my final and driving home I found a letter addressed to me from Squaresoft themself.  
  
"What the hell? Why would Square send me something?" I said opening the letter. It wasn't addressed to me just "Final Fantasy Player"  
  
I read it to myself and it contained valuable news. It told me that a new Final Fantasy was being made. They said they only announced 25 as the last one to hype fans for this one. They called this new one "The Fantasy to end them all" which I thought sounded strange. Why do that?  
  
It was going to be an online game much like XI was but better. It would have an entire world to explore and it would be fully interactive with a pair of headgear. It was a virtual reality game. I was getting more interested.  
  
The letter also said that it would be expensive to buy but if you owned at least 20 Final Fantasy games you'd get a big discount. I owned all of them ever made from 1 to 25 so this made me feel a little relieved.  
  
It would be available tomorrow and it told me where to pick up a copy. I was hyped. This would be interesting.  
  
The rest of the day passed with me playing some of FFXXV and then I ate dinner with the family and slept.  
  
When I awoke I got myself prepared to pick up this new Final Fantasy the letter told me about. It was at a local electronic store and the crowd outside was huge. They must have gotten the same letter. Somebody was standing on a platform in front of the store with a megaphone shouting to the people.  
  
"We'll call your names out when its your turn to get your copy! Please stay in an orderly manner." the man told us.  
  
I waited for a little over an hour and finally my name was called. "Eliot Ogami!" he called. My last name sounded Japanese but I didn't look it. My father is American and my mother is Japanese. But anyway I went inside.  
  
They directed me to a back room where a man sat behind a desk. He wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses. He was Japanese by the looks of him, but it was hard to tell that kind of thing. He motioned for me to sit in the chair in front of him.  
  
"You must be Eliot Ogami. Correct?" he spoke in an asian accent.  
  
"Yes." I said softly. I was a little nervous.  
  
"My man is Ryu. I work for Square Enix and would like to say we are impressed with your determination with our Final Fantasy series. You own all the versions made." Ryu told me.  
  
"How do you know that?" I asked surprised he would know that.  
  
"We at Square have gone to great lengths to find out about our fans. We wanted this game to shine. Here is your copy." he said snapping his fingers as another man stepped from out of the shadows of the room with a large box in his hands.  
  
"That's pretty big." I said amazed at the size of the box and the artwork on the box. It was like on giant Final Fantasy battle taking place on it.  
  
"It contains the game and all the equipment needed to play. It's not only just a game it comes with the gear needed to view everything. I hope you enjoy it." Ryu told me smiling.  
  
"For free?" I asked with amazement.  
  
"Yes, we have admired your commitment to the series and this is a reward." he said smirking a little. I took the box and left the back way.  
  
I ran home to get this baby started up. Inside the box was what looked like an entire gaming system and there was this helmet and a series of cables attached to it as well as a keyboard and monitor. After following the instructions, incorrectly at first, I finally managed to set the thing up in under two hours.  
  
I turned the monitor and the cube on. The registration screen appeared on the monitor.  
  
"Enter character name........." it displayed.  
  
"Eliot." I said as I typed it in and hit enter. Another series of questions popped up too. Like appearance, age, race, height, weight, stuff like that. Then came the Fantasy questions.  
  
"Character Class?" it displayed. Then a series of choices appeared from Knight, Fighter, Monk, even some new ones that I didn't know much about. Then I spotted an interesting on.  
  
"Gunblade Specialist? Man that's so old school!" I said to myself picking it. Gunblades weren't featured since Final Fantasy 8 and that was years ago.  
  
My character appeared onscreen wearing a white shirt with a blue jacket that barely reached his waist and had short sleeves. He also wore black cut off gloves and had a series of belts around his waist over his black jeans. He wore black combat boots and had messy looking brown hair and sunglasses resting atop his forehead. He looked a little like me.  
  
Then after the rest of the registration it told me to put on the helmet and sit back in a comfortable chair. I did so and placed the helmet over my head. It covered my eyes and everything then a sudden shock hit me.  
  
It vanished in a moment but then I stood in some kind of room with a bed and a bunch of gear lying around the small little room. I saw a gunblade propped against the wall and it looked like a revolver type gunblade, which was Squall's default weapon.  
  
I saw myself in the mirror and the character I created was staring me in the face. This felt so real as I felt my arms and face. I guess the game starts now. 


	2. Log In

Here is the second chapter to Final Fantasy World.  
  
Logged In  
  
This was amazing. It felt like all this stuff around me was real. I picked up the Gunblade and holstered it on my right side like Squall used to do. I looked at the door to the room and it had a paper on it.  
  
------------------  
  
Character Name: Eliot  
  
Level: 1  
  
Race: Human  
  
Class: Gunblade Specialist  
  
Strongest Element: Water  
  
Skills: None  
  
Magics: None  
  
Equipment: Revolver, Combat Boots  
  
Addition Information: Welcome to Final Fantasy World! Based on the stats you've made for your character we have chosen your starting point to be here at F Garden. This is the only area of the world with a Garden. People from all over come here to learn about fighting battles and training their skills. You may stay as long as you wish here until you feel ready to leave the Garden. To sign up for classes present this paper to the Registry Office located near the Quad Area.  
  
--------------------  
  
Interesting. I wonder what the other areas of the world here are like. It wouldn't hurt to train here a little if I'm only at Level 1. Everyone must be if the game only came out today.  
  
I walked out of my room and marvelled at the Garden. It was humongous! People were everywhere talking and stuff. I recognized a few of the classes such as Thieves and Dragon Knights to even what looked like a Summoner. Speaking of the Summoner she walked up to me.  
  
"Hiya! Are you new?" she asked me with a very warm smile and such a cheeful voice. I was amazed that it sounded so real. I wonder how I was controlling my actions if I was just wearing some helmet.  
  
"I bet you're confused by all this! Don't worry about it! I'll lend you a hand! But, I don't know many skills." she said tilting her head downwards losing a bit of her cheefulness.  
  
"You could say that." I muttered. She wore this large white rope like the old versions of the White Mage and had a few garments of red drapped over her body complete with a similar colored hood. She carried a wooden rod in her right hand which was very small. Compared to me I was almost a whole foot taller than her.  
  
"What skills DO you know?" I asked her.  
  
"Well only how to do a basic Cure. But there is this cave outside the Garden that has a monster in it, maybe I could have it help us." she said getting happy again.  
  
"I thought Summoners could only call certain creatures like Shiva or Alexander. You saying that they can call regular monsters too?" I asked with extreme curiosity.  
  
"Yeah, I've been learning about Summoners since I got this game." she said closing her eyes smiling very brightly. She reminded me of all the hyper girls like Selphie or Rikku.  
  
"When did you get it?" I asked her.  
  
"Today at around 10:30 in the morning. I was second to recieve my copy." she said beaming with victory.  
  
"I just started. So I don't have many skills." I told her feeling a little sad. I was so used to being so powerful in RPG games, but you have to start somewhere don't you?  
  
"Well come with me! With both of us we can find that monster! I'll heal while you attack! I see your Gunblade so you must be good with attacking." she said taking my hand and leading me forwards.  
  
"Well how are battles fought in this game?" I asked, the Summoner still dragging me.  
  
"It's not turn based it all active time! You just swing and run around and stuff. We should do fine." she told me as we reached the front gate and left to the field outside.  
  
I saw people running around outside in groups, they must all be in a party.  
  
"You should join my party. You know how?" she asked.  
  
"Not really. Don't you just follow them?" I asked confused and still naive about the whole thing. This was definately challenging. I like it.  
  
"Close your eyes and hold them shut. A menu should appear before your face now just select Party and Join mine." she said. I did so and a large Menu appeared in front of me. How cool. I could conrtol the actions on it just by thinking. Square really went all out here. I went to Party and Join and then it told me I was in her party.  
  
"Your name is Ashley?" I asked her. The menu displayed "You are now in Ashley's Party." so that must be her name.  
  
"Yuppers! I'm Ashley the Summoner! What's your name, Squall?" she said giggling. At least she was familiar with her Final Fantasy's if she could remember back to 8.  
  
"Call me Eliot. It's nice to play this game with you." I told her smiling a little, granted it wasn't as big of a smile as Ashley's.  
  
"Let's go! Follow me!" She commanded running to the West. I followed her until we ended up in a forest with a group of monsters before us.  
  
"Mu's! They look so cute!" Ashley said like she wanted to run up to hug one. She didn't notice their sharp teeth. They did look like Mu's with the brown fur and big tails.  
  
I drew my Gunblade and prepared to strike one. I thought an Active Time Guage was used but I realized it too late when one the three bit me. I couldn't tell how much HP I had but I didn't feel like I would die anytime soon.  
  
"Cure!" I heard Ashley declare as a blue aura surrounded me and the injury was gone like I never felt it at all.  
  
Running at the Mu it didn't move when the blade came down on it cutting it down. It wasn't dead but it ran away from me scared.  
  
"Try pulling the trigger as you strike! I think that's how it worked in Final Fantasy 8!" Ashley yelled standing a safe distance from me. She should considering Summoners aren't very strong against direct attacks.  
  
The next Mu that I didn't harm was right in front of me. I swung the blade down again but a second before it hit I pulled the trigger on the Revolver and a big burst of energy shot out of it causing a big flash where the blade hit the Mu. It died instantly and I almost dropped the Gunblade from the recoil of that blast. So THAT'S how they work.  
  
I looked over and saw Ashley running from a Mu so I ran up and slid into the Mu blade first piercing it, effectively killing it. One left and it was the only one I didn't attack so far.  
  
I swung upwards pulling the trigger at the right moment but the recoil was still too much for me and my weapon fell to the ground, along with the monster. I could feel myself become a little stronger from the fight with them.  
  
"Yay! We did it!" I heard Ashley cheer jumping up and down over and over. She really was one of those energy high girls in the FF series.  
  
"I need more practice. I thought a Gunblade would be an easier weapon." I said picking up my Gunblade from the ground and holstering it.  
  
"You did fine. It was your first real battle. I've fought a few with people but they didn't like me very much." she said to me sounding sad again.  
  
"Well, how far is this cavern?" I asked.  
  
As if the question snapped her out of her depressed mood she looked up smiling and said "It's just past here I think. Follow me!"  
  
I followed her and didn't run into any monsters on the way. We reached this average looking cave with a symbol over it. "It's in here! Let's go!" she said running ahead of me into the cave.  
  
She was becoming a small pain, hopefully I can bear with her and maybe she'll leave me alone if I help her find this monster.  
  
This cavern was dark but had a few torches lighting up the area. It was a straighforward path leading to a large chamber. Inside was this monster, but Ashley didn't seem to like it.  
  
"What is that?" she screeched. It was some sort of large spider. I could see it's HP meter above it's body somehow, I thought it was cool.  
  
"It's called Trap Spider and it has 200 Hit Points." I informed to Ashely drawing my Gunblade just in case. She was scared to move. "You okay?" I asked her.  
  
The Spider began to move forward and attack us with one of its legs. I held up my Gunblade and blocked the attack as best I could and then slashed it across the face pulling the trigger correctly, and without actually losing grip this time.  
  
The creature reared back in pain from the blow. I inflicted about 55 points of damage as it's HP fell to 145. A few more attacks and I should be fine for now.  
  
The Spider then grabbed me with both front legs and bit me. I felt it's disgusting mouth touch me and throw me to the floor. I felt rather ill after that blow too, it must have poisoned me.  
  
"Ashley! Help!" I called to her but she was still in that trance. I blocked another one of the monster's attacks and counterattacked with a swing from my Gunblade.  
  
The beast had only 75 Hit Point remaining now but I felt like I had even less. "Ashley.........please help me!" I called out to her again on one knee now from the pain I felt right now.  
  
"Cure!" She finally yelled healing my wounds but I still felt poisoned. Then I felt something new hit me, not an attack from the Trap Spider but something like a Skill.  
  
A voice sounded in my head. "Skill Learned. Rough Divide, Magic Point Cost; 5" it told me. This must be a Skill that I learned. Without thinking twice I shouted out "Rough Divide!" and I ran as fast as I could at the Trap Spider running the blade along the ground leaving a trail of dust where it ran. Then swinging upward I jumped very high in the air and cut the monster deep killing it.  
  
Then Ashley and I began to glow some strange bright color as I felt myself grow stronger. Maybe we both gained a Level?  
  
"Hey, you okay?" I asked her. The poison must have wore off when I gained the Level.  
  
"I'm so sorry! I just can't stand SPIDERS! They're the worst thing ever!" she protested shaking her head back and forth with her eyes closed.  
  
"Well I don't know where that monster of yours was but I don't see any sign of it." I told her starting to leave.  
  
"Oh I almost forgot! It's here, the monster was a guardian. When players beat guardians then they get rewarded for it. The monster is right there." she pointed to a pile of rocks.  
  
"Uh.........it's just some rocks." I said raising an eyebrow.  
  
"But it's spirit is there. I have to speak with it." she told me going up to it and kneeling by it.  
  
"You can leave now if you want. I'll E-Mail you later when I need help again. It was fun hanging with you." she said going back to the pile of rocks.  
  
"Yea sure. How do you log out?" I asked her feeling embarassed that I didn't know how to log out of the game.  
  
"Just say your name and Log Out" she told me.  
  
"Eliot Log Out?" I asked. Before she could answer I woke up with the helmet on my head.  
  
"Holy shit! That was great! What time is it? Damn almost dinner, I've been playing for hours. Well hopefully I don't have to deal with Ashley again. She's nice and all but too hyper for me." I said shutting everything off and storing them safely.  
  
"Tomorrow I'll explore deeper." I said walking to my room to read a book. 


	3. Monster?

Chapter 3  
  
Monster?  
  
The next morning I woke up late at around 11.  
  
"Damn. I sleep in too much during the summer." Nobody was home so I decided to play Final Fantasy World again.  
  
Checking the menu before I actually log on I noticed some E-Mail from somebody. It was Ashley.  
  
"Oh great! I hope she doesn't write with those smileys or that leet speak." I said with my hand against my forehead. Oh well might as well open it.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Ashely  
  
Subject: Thanks :)  
  
Thanks for helping me yesterday. I'll be at F Garden today so maybe we can get together. If you hear something beep in one of your pockets that's something new the Square people designed called the Compact Menu. It's like a palm pilot that controls menu options without closing your eyes. But if I need you a message from me will appear on it.  
  
Oh, and I really liked your company yesterday. You were the only person to actually help me yesterday for more than 5 minutes, people thought I was a pain :( . I hope to see you again, Squall. XD  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
"Well at least she kept those smileys to a minimum. Kinda feel sorry for her now. I guess I should log in and try to find her." I said setting up everything and placing the helmet on my head.  
  
I was in once again, back in the same room I started. This must be the area I log in to each time.  
  
I walked around the halls and remembered about signing up for lessons. I didn't know how they would work but it must be good.  
  
I found the Registry Office near the Quad and a cute little girl dressed in a blue schoolgirl uniform was sitting behind the desk.  
  
"Come to sign up?" she asked. I nodded and handed her the paper.  
  
"Eliot eh? This may take a day to process. We'll send you a message on your Compact Menu when we are done." she said bowing her head to me as I left.  
  
Then I noticed a large group hanging around this one bench. A bunch of guys at that.  
  
"She is such a babe! Just look at her!" I heard one say as I tried to get a closer look. But I couldn't see anything until I saw this blur run outside the Garden.  
  
"What now?" I asked as my pocket started to beep. It was like a palm pilot in there but it was called a Compact Menu, and an image popped up saying Ashley has invited you to join her at the front gate of F Garden.  
  
I managed to figure out how to relpy saying I'd meet her at the front. Her reply was XD.  
  
Once I managed to reach the front Ashley was sitting on a bench with her eyes closed. Was she sleeping? Could you sleep in this game? Then she opened them and smiled at me.  
  
"Eliot!!! You made it!!!" She screamed wrapping her arms around my neck.  
  
"Yo! What's up with you?" I asked prying her off me.  
  
"I'm just happy you showed up. Nobody else could deal with me. Ready to go on an adventure?" she asked.  
  
"I guess so. Did you see somebody run throw here?" I asked her.  
  
"Yea, some girl, I couldn't get a look at her face but she was soo fast." she told me amazed. "Let's go find her!"  
  
Again she ran off without me. "Why do I put up with this?" I asked myself. I followed and she was outside going towards this mountain.  
  
"Follow me! Another player said he saw this girl run towards there." she told me letting me catch up to her.  
  
Once at the top of the mountain we both looked around for signs of a person. Then I heard somebody fighting over to my left.  
  
"I hear somebody over there." I pointed as we both looked over to see this girl fighting a big armored knight. However the knight isn't losing.  
  
"She needs help! Cure her, and I'll do the fighting." I said drawing my Gunblade and striking the creature but forgetting to pull the trigger.  
  
"You okay?" I asked blocking a sword attack from the monster. The girl stood up and dusted herself off.  
  
"Whatever!" she said punching the creature. She must be a Monk Class character.  
  
After many Rough Divides and Cures the beast died.  
  
"Are you guys okay?" Ashley asked us.  
  
"I'll manage. Why'd you help me?" I girl asked standing up.  
  
"You looked like you needed help? Why'd you come up here alone?" I asked her putting away my weapon.  
  
"Those guys at the Garden piss me off. They just think I'm some hottie for their own personal gain. I'm more than what you see." She said.  
  
"Oh that's what all those guys were talking about. I didn't know what the hell they were doing."I told her laughing a little.  
  
I didn't notice at first but she was a hottie. Her red hair was down to about her waist, she wore a very tight black shirt that accented her already large breasts, she also wore a black mini skirt but it still went to above her knees, and she wore boots and fighting gloves. She reminded you of Tifa Lockheart from Final Fantasy 7 the way she looked. A Tifa with red hair.  
  
"You're pretty strong though. Want to join with us?" Ashely said to this new girl.  
  
"Well you people do seem to care about me as a person and not just some hot girl. I suppose it wouldn't hurt." she said smiling a little.  
  
"What's your name?" I asked her.  
  
"My name is Heather. Nice to meet you." She said extending her hand. I shook it and told her my name, and Ashley told her her's.  
  
"Well I suppose we can travel off the mountain together for today. That will prove to me if you two really do like me as a person." she told us again.  
  
We walked down the mountain fighting Funguars and I think they were called Bite Bugs. But we managed to get to the bottom and see something weird go by us.  
  
It was this large monster holding some big crucifix. This monster had black armor on with all these symbols but did not have a face.  
  
As quick as it came it left. We all stood there wondering what happened.  
  
"Did anyone else see that?" I turned asking the rest of the group.  
  
"Yeah that was freaky." Ashley said holding her staff tighter.  
  
"Maybe it's one of those events they have. Like it could be an evil monster that characters have to kill or something to save the land." Heather told us.  
  
"That sounds reasonable actually. Glad to have somebody like you on the team." I told her. I'm a terrible flirt.  
  
"Well I should get going. My dinner should be ready soon. I'll E-Mail you two when I get off." she told us as we all walked towards the Garden.  
  
"Well you two are a nice pair to be with. At least this guy here isn't one of those horny kids back inside that just want me to hug them." Heather said.  
  
"What's so bad about that?" Ashley said.  
  
"Um.........Eliot you mind turning the other way for a second?" Heather asked.  
  
"Oh, girl talk." I said turning and walking away from them a little.  
  
"Well they only want it so they can feel my boobs againast them. Perverts." Heather said disgusted.  
  
"Must be hard running around with those." Ashley said to her.  
  
"Well luckily this is a game and gravity doesn't seem to affect mine so much." she said giggling. Typical girls, always talking about things like that.  
  
"We must be toturing Eliot. He's the only guy." Ashley said looking at me.  
  
"Sorry about that Eliot." Heather said to me.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I think I'll hit the Training Center to build my character." I told them.  
  
"Well bye." Heather said waving. "Heather Log Out!" she said as her figure began to vanish.  
  
"I can come with you if you want Eliot." Ashley offered.  
  
"No, I should be fine." I told her.  
  
"Well I should get going. Bye now." she said to me. "Ashley Log Out!" and she vanished the same way Heather did.  
  
I jogged to the Trainging Center to fight some monsters. It did me some good. I managed to attain Level 4 and learn Fire. I guess certain classes can still learn magic, but a Gunblade Specialist doesn't excel in magic though.  
  
Leaving the Training Center I heard a female voice from behind me.  
  
"12 minutes." It murmered.  
  
"What?" I said turning around. It was somebody dressed in a heavy black cloak. You could barely tell a person was wearing it by how big it was.  
  
"12 minutes until it appears." she said.  
  
"Until what appears? Who are you?" I asked it.  
  
"Who am I? Nobody. Nobody at all Eliot!" she said.  
  
I drew my Gunblade because she was starting to scare me. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Such a task would be futile at your state." she said laughing silently to herself.  
  
"Why are you bothering me?" I asked her holding my weapon firmly in striking position.  
  
"Who knows? Maybe you're bothering me." she said before vanishing before my eyes. What the hell was that all about? I exited the Training Center and began to walk around the Garden. It was nightfall outside and decided to stroll around for a couple of minutes before Logging Out.  
  
While walking I found myself far from the Garden near that mountain we climbed today and just sat down on a large rock to rest for a second. I was tired, this game actually simulated fatigue. Then something didn't feel right. Like something was watching me. Then all of a sudden the rock I was resting on imploded around me as I hit the ground.  
  
I turned and saw the monster wearing the black armor with the markings and it had a oval shaped polygon with just a yellow light where it's face should be. It looked like Ultimecia's final form. It pointed it's crucifx at me as if it was challenging me.  
  
"What?" I said standing, Gunblade in hand. This beast must be strong, I mean look at it.  
  
It came at me with incredible speed just levitating in the air and swiped at me with it's crucifix staff. I managed to roll under it and I just looked at this beast and it was ready to kill me. I didn't want my character to die so I'd fight for all it's worth.  
  
Then a guy came and swiped at it with his sword. "Who the hell are you?" I asked this man. He stood very tall clad in armor from the neck down showing his black hair.  
  
"Get out of here! He'll kill you! Don't worry about me! I've been playing nonstop so I'm on Level 32." he shouted slashing again and again but the creature just moved to the sides each time. What a nut! Playing that long.  
  
Then the creature struck this character to the ground and then he floated into the air as the crucifix floated behind him crucifying him. Then the guy screamed out in pain. I know this game simulates pain to an extent but not in this degree.  
  
Then his body lost all it's color and became grayish. "This.........was supposed to be a game. Not like this!" he said as his body literally shattered like glass being struck by a hammer.  
  
I ran away from this thing as fast as I could and when I thought I lost it. "Eliot Log Out!" I yelled at the top of my lungs in fear. I quickly woke up in my game room and took the helmet off.  
  
"What the hell happened? That seemed too real to be some sort of event in the game." I said checking the desktop finding three emails.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Ashley  
  
Subject: Heather  
  
Isn't she nice to us. Just don't start acting ga ga cause she's super hot to you. But she seems like a valuable person to us so let's hope she'll help us out in the game a bunch. How'd the Training Center go when we left? Reply back with all the details.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
To: Ashley  
  
From: Eliot  
  
Subject: Re: Heather  
  
Training Center went okay. Learned Fire and am at Level 4. But I met this weird girl who was talking nonsense to me. Then that monster with the crucifix showed up but I escaped. I'll tell you more when we play again.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Heather  
  
Subject: Hey kiddo  
  
You seem different from the other guys. Don't go getting any ideas now just cause I hang with you. Is that what you look like in real life? I look pretty much the same in all departments =). Don't think I'm some slut or anything cause of that. I'd like to know more about you if you want me to trust you more.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
I decided not to reply to that one, but the last email was freaky.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Necros  
  
Subject: Your Future  
  
My dear Eliot. We meet again. If you wish to learn more about my words and that monster you encountered today you can meet me at the Parking Garage at about 2:30 PM tomorrow. I trust you'll be there. Bring those two girls, Heather and Ashley, along if you desire. What you learn may change you forever.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
"Necros? Who the hell is that?" I asked myself softly. I decided to sleep for now, as it was around 11:30 now, but those screams from that player just lingered in me still. What happened to him anyway?  
  
Liking it? Seems it's taken a twist so far. 


	4. The Shy Guy

Chapter 4  
  
The Shy Guy  
  
I woke up earlier than I thought today, so I decided to eat a quick breakfast and log into FF: World.  
  
Two new emails. I always liked to read them before logging in or logging off.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Heather  
  
Subject: Wanna train?  
  
Hey Eliot! Wanna get together in the Training Center today and beat up some monsters. My character is only Level 2 =( but I'll get stronger for sure. I just want it to be the two of us. Don't get any ideas hotshot, just as friends. Although the guys will be jealous you are with a babe like me LOL.  
  
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To: Final Fantasy World Player  
  
From: SquareSoft  
  
Subject: Recent Events  
  
Greetings Player, we hope you enjoy playing this game.  
  
Recently one player was logged in constantly for two days and has been hospitalized from it as a result. We implore all players to please take note of the amount of time you spend in the game. Such a result of overplay may result in serious medical problems. Please limit your time spent online.  
  
However if you choose to ignore this safety then we are not held responsible for any injury that may result.  
  
We have also heard rumors going around that a player has died as a result of playing the game. We can assure you that such a thing cannot occur unless that player has been playing constantly without proper nutrition.  
  
Also we have heard reports of a strange armored monster carrying a crucifix that has attacked several players. If you have any imformation about this monster please email SquareSoft directly about the problem and title the Subject "Armor Monster"  
  
Thank you for your support.  
  
Ryu Hikara, Final Fantasy World Designer  
  
----------------------------  
  
"That Ryu guy made this game? Not too surprising. Might as well log in for now." I said preparing to log in and placing the helmet on my head and appearing back in my dorm room.  
  
My pocket immeadiatley beeped to signal somebody was calling me. It was Heather, she was waiting in front of the training center.  
  
"Dear Eliot, meet me at the Training Center entrance. Hurry these fanboys are getting touchy."  
  
I laughed to myself just picturing that, but this was serious so I went straight there without delay.  
  
She was surrounded by boys so she wasn't hard to find. I pushed through them all and found her. They didn't seem happy I was going to see her.  
  
"Eliot! Thank god you're here. Let's go!" she said leading me by the arm into the Training Center. I was trying to keep my sunglasses on my forehead as she led me forward. The "fanboys" didn't follow because they weren't exactly the best fighters.  
  
"Thank god. I thought I'd never get away from them." She said resting for a few minutes.  
  
"Well it's cause of how you dress you know? They wouldn't be all over you if you weren't so.........slutty." I said bashfully, hiding my face.  
  
"Well I just felt like I should be similar to who I am. I do look like this in real life, well my hair is a little shorter and stuff like that but I wanted to remain close to who I am." Heather explained. "The character I see before me, isn't this what you look like?"  
  
"Well yes. The height and sunglasses and everything is all there. But you must have known that boys would flock around you because of you're appearance." I stated.  
  
"Yeah I would have though, but deep down I'm glad I get the attention. In real life I want to be a model." she told me looking off into space.  
  
"Well you certainly have the body for it if you look like that." I said to her.  
  
"I'm glad you think so. You're the first person I've met to like me for who I am. The first boy at least. C'mon enough talk about my looks, time to beat up some monsters." She said pounding her fist into her cupped hand.  
  
We trained on and on for awhile then rested on a rock by a river flowing through the area. I got to Level 7 and Heather was at Level 5. Ashley eventually found the two of us and she decided to join us.  
  
"There you two are. You guys on a D-A-T-E?" she said like a little kid, well she kinda was.  
  
"Get real Ashley!" Heather said pointing her nose in the air.  
  
"Well you guys ready to go outside to train?" Ashley asked us.  
  
"We just got done training. We're a little tired." I told her.  
  
"Well how about just for a walk?" she asked us.  
  
"If you want to." Heather agreed. I soon followed.  
  
As we left it felt like we were being followed by somebody. Was it that girl in the black robe? Maybe just my imagination.  
  
"What's wrong Eliot?" Ashley asked me.  
  
"Nothing." I said as we left the Garden.  
  
The field wasn't much different than it usually was. I wonder when I'd be able to venture out to the other areas of the world.  
  
"What happened last night Eliot?" Heather asked me.  
  
"Well trained and then this monster attacked me." I told them remembering the guy being attacked by it.  
  
"Was it wearing armor and carried a crucifx?" Ashley began to question.  
  
"Yes, how'd you know that?" I asked her a little shocked.  
  
"Got an email from SquareSoft about it." she explained.  
  
"I got one too." Heather chimmed in.  
  
"As did I."  
  
"You should report it to them since you saw it." Heather told me. I don't know why but something told me I shouldn't.  
  
"Perhaps I will. Maybe it's a defect or somebody hacked it in the game to kill inexperienced players." I responded.  
  
"Well once you log off you should tell them." Ashley said as her gaze went to the bushed behind her.  
  
"Something the matter kiddo?" Heather asked yawning.  
  
"Thought I saw something." she said still looking at the bushes. Heather walked over to look and found nothing. She turned to face us.  
  
"See nothing there." she said as a rod poked out from the bush and touched across her rear. "What the heck?" she screamed grabbing into the bush and producing this small kid.  
  
"What's the big idea!? Touching my ass like that!?" she practically screamed at this little boy.  
  
"I-I'm sorry miss. I didn't mean to. I was just.........uh." he was speaking as though he were facing death itself. Well Heather in this mood seems like death itself, not too different from most women.  
  
"Why were you hiding in that bush?" Ashley said as Heather let him drop to the ground.  
  
"I was just trying to f-find something." he said not raising his head to talk to any of us. He spoke in a shy manner aswell. I decided to ask him an obvious question.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"M-m-me? My name is Tucker. I'm a White Mage. If you need my help just ask. B-bye!" he said running away. We saw him vanish after he ran, must have Logged Out.  
  
"That was strange." Ashley said.  
  
"What time is it?" I asked both of them.  
  
"About 2:20. Why? Have to go?" Heather said.  
  
"No, I just remembered this weird guy Emailed me saying to meet him in the parking lot at 2:30. He also seemed to know you two." I explained to them about the email from this Necros.  
  
"Sounds fishy to me." Ashley commented. "Should we go?"  
  
"I'm going. He might not even be there to hurt us. Maybe just to ask something. Could just be some player wanting help. People do come up with weird names for these online games." I told them both heading back for F- Garden's Parking Lot.  
  
Once we arrived it was almost 2:30. No sign of Necros. "Maybe he won't show." Heather said as a person came through the wall wearing a black robe. It was that girl from before.  
  
"Greetings Eliot, Ashley, and Heather. As you have suspected I am Necros. And you're all thinking about why I called you here today." she explained. I tried to look at her face but the robes she wore were so big they covered it completely.  
  
"Why did you call Eliot here?" Heather asked getting a serious expression on her mature face.  
  
"To warn him about something. That creature you encountered the other night, it may attack again. But have you wondered anything about that monster?" she asked.  
  
"What's it's purpose? Is it just a regular monster?" I asked her. She seemed to know a lot about that monster in black armor.  
  
"It is no regular monster. It was created by somebody. But you saw its power for youself didn't you?" Necros asked me.  
  
"Yeah. It beat that other player very easily. I'm glad I made it out ok." I said remembering the event.  
  
"It didn't beat him."  
  
"But I saw it defeat him."  
  
"True, that player was defeated but normally when a player loses all their Hit Points they must log back in and start from when they last saved. However this monster does something different." she begant to explain.  
  
"What is that?" Ashley chimed in.  
  
"The skill it uses on players with its staff does more than log them out." she kept saying.  
  
"Get on with it! What does it do?" Heather burst out.  
  
"The player you saw attacked died. The monster has the ability to kill people playing the game. You've seen the email from Square. It said that the player's death was a rumor, but that's far from the truth." Necros said laughing.  
  
"But why would they allow something like this to happen?" Ashley said sounding a little scared.  
  
"If people knew you could die from playing this game, then nobody would buy it. Square doesn't want that to happen." she told us.  
  
"Why are you telling us this? What does it give you?" I said folding my arms over my chest.  
  
"To warn you. And also, I want you to one day be able to destroy this monster. Square would themselves, but they have their reasons." she said turning to leave.  
  
"Wait we still have questions! Why are you helping us?" I shouted to her.  
  
"Because I want you to kill me." she said vanishing. What did she mean by that? To kill her? What's going on here?  
  
"Guys what do we do about this?" Ashley said with fright in her voice. She was terrified by the sound of it.  
  
"Well let's just avoid this monster until we become strong enough." I said.  
  
"Like how strong?" Heather asked.  
  
"The guy who was killed by it told me he was at Level 32." I turned to face her.  
  
"So at least Level 32. I'm up for it. How about you Ashley?" Heather asked our small little friend.  
  
"I guess so. As long as you two are there to help me." she said.  
  
"Hey girl. I'll always be there. Well I should log out for now. I'm tired. A figure like me needs her beauty sleep." she said winking at us.  
  
"I'll email you guys later. Heather Log Out!" she said vanishing in the normal manner people do when logging out.  
  
"I'll be going to Eliot. Bye. Ashley Log Out!" she said disappearing too.  
  
"Might as well. Eliot Log Out"  
  
I was back in my room and checking my email.  
  
One from Ashley, Heather, and that Tucker kid.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Ashley  
  
Subject: Totally freaky  
  
That Necros girl totally freaked me out. But if you and Heather are willing to fight her I'll be right there with you guys. Just protect me cause I break easily XD. Well did you get an email from Tucker? He seems nice but a little shy. What did he say to you?  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Heather  
  
Subject: Today and other  
  
Well that encounter was surely strange. Well I'm willing to take on that monster but only if you help me level up a lot. Let's do our best to protect Ashley too. You remember me wanting to become a model right? Well I've been mailing a few companies about it and one of them would like to see some pictures of me. But I don't know which ones are good. If you want I can send you some of my personal favorites and I'll let you be the judge.  
  
Think of it this way; If I get in then you'll be friends with a model. But you don't seem like the kinda guy that would be drooling over something like this. Well check out if Tucker mailed you. He seems nice but it'll be awhile before I can forgive him touching my ass like that, even though it's hard to miss lol.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
To: Heather  
  
From: Eliot  
  
Subject: Re: Today and other  
  
Pictures of you would be nice. As long as they aren't nude or anything, it's just not my style for THAT kind of modelling. I'm glad I have your support with this Necros thing. But what do you think she meant by "I want you to kill me"? That just makes it really weird.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Tucker  
  
Subject: Hello  
  
Hello Sir Eliot. I am sorry for my actions earlier, but I get nervous around people. Especially that one girl. I feel I can talk to you about that kind of trouble regarding it. Just do not tell her I like her. Please? If you ever need my help in the future do not hesitate to call on me. My character stats are below.  
  
Name: Tucker  
  
Race: White Genome  
  
Gender: Male  
  
Class: White Mage  
  
Level: 6  
  
Skills: Double  
  
Magics: Cure, Esuna, NulShock, NulTide, NulBlaze, NulFrost  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Tucker seems like a nice fellow. Much more polite and talkative offline. Who does he like though? Must be Heather, I mean he acted all shy around her. I wonder why she made her character like that. Oh well, I'm hungry I need a bite to eat.  
  
How do you like this? I hope everyone enjoys it. I've been thinking about doing a stats page to tell you all the character classes and stuff like that just so you know more about what they can and cannot do. 


	5. Status Page

Here is the stats page. It tell all the character classes and what they can do.  
  
Status Page  
  
Well I woke up today and decided to visit Squares website to learn more about classes. I wonder how many there are and stuff.  
  
"Here we are, Character Classes." I said to myself displaying the page.  
  
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Knight  
  
Can equip Broadswords and Heavy Armor. Very protective and have high amount of HP and Physical Defense.  
  
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Monk  
  
Can equip Fighting Gloves and Claw weapons such as the Katal. Fast characters and have a high amount of Physical Strength even when no weapon is equipped. Not as fast as Theives.  
  
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White Mage  
  
Can equip Rods. Masters of Healing Magic. Able to heal many targets and have a high amount of MP and Magic Defense.  
  
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Gunblade Specialist  
  
Can equip Gunblades and almost any other kind of armor except Heavy Armor. Fairly balanced characters though they learn skills very slowly compared to other characters.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Summoners  
  
Can equip Rods. Learn mostly White Magic but do not excel as much as a White Mage. Able to summon spirits that manifest as monsters to aid party members.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Thief  
  
Can equip Daggers and Polearms. Very fast characters that can steal items from opponents. Low amount of HP however.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Black Mage  
  
Masters of Offensive Magic and Status Attacks. Equips Rods and Dolls. High amount of MP and Magical Defense and a natural resistance to Darkness based Magic. Low HP however like most Mages.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Dragon Knight  
  
Can equip Spears and Lances as well as Heavy Armor. Have high HP and Physical Defense like Knights. Can also Jump to high areas and remain unharmed.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Samurai  
  
Can equip Katanas and Light Armor. Very fast with attacking and has a variety of unique skills.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Chemist  
  
Masters of Items. Very weak at Attacking and Defending but are able to use Attack Items and Healing Items used by them have double the effect.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Squire  
  
Has no benefit of a Class. Can equip any Weapon or Armor but will learn no skills from them.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Magic Swordsman  
  
Can equip Broadswords and Heavy Armor like Knights. The difference is Magic Knights can use Magic Sword attacks.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Blue Mage  
  
Can use Skills and Magics learned from the enemies they fight. Can equip Rods and Daggers and Light Armor. Have more HP than other Mages.  
  
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Ninja  
  
Can use Daggers and Shurikens. Able to Steal items and can Throw Weapons at enemies. The fastest class in the game.  
  
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Hunter  
  
Can equip Short Swords and a few Broadswords. Can weild two Short Swords at a time. Can also be used to find items that may be hidden.  
  
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Dark Knight  
  
Same as Knights but can use Black Magic. Also able to use Darkness based Magic and Skills and have a resistance to Darkness based Magic.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Holy Knight  
  
Same as Knights but can use White Magic. Also able to use Holy based Magic and Skills.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Painter  
  
Equips Brushes. Can paint an enemy copy and order them to attack. The stronger the enemy the more time it takes to paint them.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Red Mage  
  
Can equip Rods and Daggers. Able to use White Magic and Black Magic but don't excel as much as a full White or Black Mage would.  
  
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"That's a lot of classes. Glad I got the Gunblade Specialist, he seems great for me." I said closing my internet down to get ready to play World. 


	6. Genius?

I hope people made some sense from the Status Page. Just so you all know what each class is really capable of, even though you can tell sometimes from just experience and by the actions they perform. Well on with the new chapter.  
  
Genius?  
  
I didn't sleep too well last night so waking up wasn't hard. I wonder if while I'm playing World that if I'm sleeping or just awake. My body anyways at least.  
  
I would've played some since I couldn't sleep but I don't think my roomate would have enjoyed hearing me play while he actually got some sleep.  
  
Once in the morning though I managed to find my way downstairs to my game room where FF: World was set up. Turning it on I once again checked my mail.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Ashley  
  
Subject:   
  
Hey Squall. I'd like to be able to play today but I'm feeling really sick right now so I can't come online to play right now. I'm so sorry. Hopefully Tucker and Heather can help you out though. Have you told any of the Square people about that monster? You should, cause it's scaring me. Well I'd write more but I'm about to puke my guts out...again.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
"Not exactly the kind of message I want when I wake up, but I hope she feels better." I said checking Heather's mail next.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Heather  
  
Subject: Photos  
  
Hey big boy! Sorry. Well I'm sending another email with a few photos of myself. Don't worry they don't feature me naked. I'm actually glad you didn't want any like that. Shows that some guys are still pure in this world. Since my internet connection isn't incredibly quick the other email shouldn't get to you anytime soon, with all the attachments on it. But I'll meet you online later. I'm going to one of those training classes.  
  
You can come with me if you want. If I'm not in a class I'll be around the elevator area. Of course if my usual "fanboys" are there you won't be able to miss me.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Tucker  
  
Subject: Plans today  
  
Hello Sir Eliot! I will be playing today for awhile so feel free to call on my services if the situation calls for a White Mage. Invite Miss Heather along too. Miss Ashley emailed me and told me about her condition so she will not be able to attend today.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
"Wow this kid is polite. I guess I'll call him if I need to." I said.  
  
Time to log in now. Placing the helmet on my forehead I was send right back in to my dorm room.  
  
I walked to the elevator area and it was surrounded by a stream running through the Garden. Rather peaceful if you ask me.  
  
"Eliot! Over here!" I heard Heather wave to me as I approached her. Nobody was around her.  
  
"No fanboys today?" I asked her.  
  
"Nope. Thank god too! Let's get to class. You did sign up right?" She asked leading me to the elevator.  
  
"Yup. Did that a few days ago." I told her stepping into the elevator as Heather pushed the button for 2F.  
  
"What's this class on anyways?" I asked my busty friend.  
  
"Advanced battle techniques. It would help if we ever went up against that monster." she said. For a girl about beauty and stuff she was actually smart.  
  
We exited and went for the Battle Technique room. A sign above the door labeled each class.  
  
"We can just walk in?" I asked her.  
  
"Sure. If they know we're signed up for classes they'll teach us. There is no set way to take classes." she said opening the door. Nobody was in the room, save the instructor.  
  
"Advanced Battle Techniques?" he asked us in a gruff and mature voice.  
  
"Yes. Both of us." I said for Heather, she looked a little scared.  
  
"Follow me. We'll start in the Training Center." he told us leaving the room.  
  
"Let's go." she said as we both followed him to the Training Center.  
  
"Once we engage a monster we'll begin our lesson." he told us. This guy hasn't even told us his name yet.  
  
We found a monster quickly, a Grat to be exact. It had no face and a number of tentacles.  
  
"First try and find a weakness. The best method is to go and attack it head on." he said instructing us to attack it.  
  
I went in and cut it with my weapon while pulling the trigger as usual. It didn't die still had some health left. Then Heather went in with a Fire spell which killed it quickly.  
  
"Good, but you forgot one thing." he told us. We turned to face him then.........  
  
"Stop!" He shouted as both Heather and I could no longer move our bodies.  
  
"What the hell? What are you doing?" she yelled to him.  
  
"I'm surprised you guys didn't learn already. I'm not the instructor. Now I'll be taking all your things now. Especially this fine lady here." he said approaching us.  
  
"Gross! Get away from me." she shouted. Then before he could reach us he was attacked by somebody. This girl jumped out wearing a girl tank top and short green shorts. She had a pair of daggers ready to cut this guy down with.  
  
"Screw this! I'm outta here!" he said running away. The girl turned to us. She had real big red eyes and purple hair that was tied in the back.  
  
"Dispel!" she declared as Heather and I could move again. She beamed a cheerful smile at us immeadiately.  
  
"Are you two okay?" she asked looking worried. She also, for some reason, had this radio communicator headset on. Dunno why.  
  
"We're both fine. Thanks for the help." I thanked this mystery girl.  
  
"Were you two on a date?" she asked us getting this curious expression on her face.  
  
"No. That guy tricked us into thinking he was an instructor." she said becoming disgusted just by recalling the guy.  
  
"Good thing I showed up then. If you ever need my help just call me." she said winking and smiling.  
  
"But we don't even know your name." I told her.  
  
"Call me Lucca. I'm a theif so I can help you steal things plus I know some White Magic cause of the items i've equipped." she told us.  
  
"Well thanks for the help Lucca. That name sounds familiar." I said thinking.  
  
"I can email you the answer but there's a catch with my emails." she said smirking.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Well I'd rather you email me first then I reply. I think it's cooler that way. If you don't mind." she said.  
  
"I don't how about you Heather?" I asked her.  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Great then I'll see you later. If you see that Black Armor Monster just run. I've heard it attacked a group of boys today. Well bye! Lucca Log Out!" she said vanishing.  
  
"Large group of boys?" I said.  
  
"You don't think those are the boys that all have crushes on me, do you?" Heather said becoming worried.  
  
"I don't know. It could have been." I said to her.  
  
"Can't you show a little more concern? They might have died if what Necros said was true. And it's scary too because it could happen to me, or you, or a number of people!" she said forming tears in her eyes.  
  
"Well, what am I supposed to do Heather? I'm sure that they're fine. I mean think about it. A game can't actually kill somebody." I told her. She turned to me with tears running down her cheeks, it was clear she was holding back tears now.  
  
"That's more like it. Make me feel better!" she declared. I had no idea what was wrong with her. One minute she acts all tough and now she's like a little kid.  
  
"How can I make you feel better?" I said confused.  
  
"Hold me close Eliot. I'm just really scared right now." she told me shuffling closer to me. I've never wanted to hold anybody close like this ever again, but since this is only a game it wouldn't be real.  
  
So I reached out and pulled her in. She gave off a warm aura that most girls do when they're against you. The game actually simulated human contact like this. She continued to weep for most of the afternoon. After about an hour she withdrew from my embrace.  
  
"You seemed rather reluctant to hold me Eliot, why?" she asked.  
  
"It's something I'd rather not talk about." I said to her. This was something I told no one.  
  
"You can open up to me. I'll even open up to you too." she told me.  
  
"It's okay. I'd rather not." I said standing up and leaving the area. Heather soon followed.  
  
"I'm sorry I lost it back there. Thanks for holding me Eliot." she said, but when I turned to look at her she was gone. Logged out I guess.  
  
I must be acting like Squall now. All unemotional and stuff. Oh well. I'd better log out myself.  
  
After logging out I had several emails.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Heather  
  
Subject: Photos2  
  
Attachments Detected  
  
Attached files scanned for viruses. Possible Viruses: 0%  
  
Here are a few shots of me. Sorry if it's too much skin for you but this is what these companies really see me for. At least I got friends like you to depend on. XD  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
I opened the files and like I predicted they were of Heather. It looked exactly like she does online. Most of them were her in underwear or bathing suits and having her cover herself in a few poses. They were rathy sexy and the kind of material you'd find in magazines. Though in a few pictures she looked a little sad. Like this wasn't her true beauty, and that her true self wasn't this set of breasts but something more. Makes me a little sad I kinda of rejected her today.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
To: Heather  
  
From: Eliot  
  
Subject: Sorry  
  
I'm sorry about today. I have my reasons why I didn't act sooner or longer than I did. But if you would like to know I might tell you about it. Those photos of you were good, I'm sure you'd be accepted. Though you looked a little sad in a few. Is it because you want to be know as more than a sex object? Sorry for asking but it's just a theory.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Tucker  
  
Subject: Secret meeting  
  
The SquareSoft crew is holding a meeting at the F-Garden tonight at 8. They are going to discuss the monster wearing the black armor and how to deal with it. Miss Ashley tells me that you know some information. I would appreciate it if you attended tonight. If you decide to meet me in from of the Library before 8. I hope to see you there Sir Eliot.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Then I thought about Lucca. "I should email her to at least thank her." I told myself clicking the Compose box.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
To: Lucca  
  
From: Eliot  
  
Subject: Hello  
  
Hello Lucca. I want to thank you for saving Heather and I today. You seem like a helpful person and would like if you'd help our little group out whenever you have time. Maybe you can tell me why Lucca sounds so familiar.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Well it's 7 right now so that meeting won't be for awhile. I need something to eat too. I got the car keys and drove to a little plaza down the road to get a slice or two of pizza for myself. After consuming my meal I was walking to my car when this noise attracted me down and alley.  
  
"Hello?" I called out. No answer but I heard somebody there. I ran down it and found a little boy. He looked no older than 6 but had pale white skin with equally pale white clothes.  
  
"You are Eliot? Are you not?" he asked. Freaky little kid.  
  
"Yea."  
  
"Come with me to World. A see the truth." he said. In a burst of light I was standing in front of F-Garden wearing the clothes I do online.  
  
"What the hell? How'd I log on?" I asked. The kid was nowhere to be seen. His voice soon sounded in my head.  
  
"You will agree this is a realistic game, no?"  
  
"It's very real if you ask me. I'm amazed a game can do this." I told him.  
  
"Sometime it's so real that you'd be fooled into thinking it was real. What if you were unable to distinguish the real world from the game world. How are you sure they are two different planes?" he asked.  
  
"What are you talking about? It's not making sense." I asked.  
  
"The answer will appear before you soon enough. Until then be careful of Necros. My sister isn't as kind as I am." he said before his voice was gone.  
  
"That made no fucking sense. I am near the Garden and I'm guessing it's almost 8 so I should meet Tucker by the Library." I told myself before walking to the Garden.  
  
Once inside I saw Tucker with Lucca by the Library.  
  
"Hiya Eliot!" Lucca said springing up from her seat and hugging me. I didn't hug back mostly because I didn't see it coming.  
  
"Hello Tucker." I said. Tucker mearly nodded without looking up, he must really be shy.  
  
"Let's go to that meeting. Follow me." Tucker said leading the way. He often mumbled without speaking up.  
  
"How'd you get here?" I asked Lucca before following the White Mage.  
  
"Heather emailed me about your little friend Tucker and I found him here. I comvinced him to let me join him." she said following with me.  
  
The words of that little kid were still lingering with me. But how did I log in? I wasn't even in front of my system. It doesn't make sense. I probably just dreamt it. 


	7. Innocent?

I've been getting reviews lately saying my fic is getting unoriginal and it's too much like other things (.hack, The Matrix, etc.) but I can assure everybody that nothing from those games will occur here. Keywords aren't going to be used at all nor will a character obtain a bracelet and Data Drain everything, and Agents aren't going to come after people in the Garden and nobody is getting "unplugged". You'll have to bear with me and find out where the story goes.  
  
Now that that's over with onward!  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Innocent?  
  
Lucca and I followed Tucker to the fourth level of the Garden, the Administrators Office. This is where some of the SquareSoft workers discuss various things about the game. Why discuss the game inside of it? Saves on travel time I assume.  
  
"This should be interesting. I wonder what will be discussed." Lucca said as Tucker approached the door.  
  
"We plan to talk about the monster in the black armor that has been running around, Miss Lucca." Tucker said not turning to face her. He's a little less shy when he isn't facing you.  
  
"I'm interested myself." I said walking inside. A series of tables were set up around the massive room. It was like a ball was being held.  
  
"Have a seat wherever you wish." A man told us bowing. We sat together at this vacant table in the corner.  
  
"They should begin soon." Tucker informed.  
  
"Attention everyone! Thank you for attending. We will now discuss this monster in black armor we've been hearing about." a man in a suit shouted so all could hear.  
  
"Recently Square has recieved a series of emails about some strange monster in black armor that has been attacking various people. This is, I'm afraid, true." as he finished saying that peice there were gasps and looks of shock around. The people here began to talk among themselves. One player broke the chatter.  
  
"Then why don't you do something about it!?" A Knight yelled. He looked like the one I saw attack that monster, but different hairstyle.  
  
"We cannot. It seems all our efforts to delete this creature are failing. We believe the only way to remove it is to kill it. However we do not encourage such behavior. Reports of people at Level 30 have been defeated. We advice if you were to try to kill it to be at least Level 32 and have an equally strong party with you." He explained.  
  
"Is it true it can kill people.........you know in the real world?" Lucca asked standing.  
  
"We have also heard rumors about such things but it is fortunately untrue. This game is not capable of killing people. We believe some players may have been defeated by the monster and have just been too afraid to log back in again. However we cannot say for certain." the man continued to explain.  
  
This wasn't all making much sense. How can they not just simply delete it or make something to delete it. And players not logging back in? That's pretty lame if you ask me. Sure this is realistic but still.  
  
"That is all for now. Please exit downstairs." He said as people began to file out and leave. I stayed put.  
  
"Sir Eliot we must go." Tucker told me as he started walking out.  
  
"Eliot we should be leaving." Lucca said tugging my jacket.  
  
"He's hiding something and I don't know what. I intend to find out." I told them following the man where he went, behind the curtains.  
  
"But they'll probably ban us or something!" Lucca protested.  
  
"You don't have to come then." I told her.  
  
"Well as long as we're just looking then it'll be fine with me." Tucker said walking forward to meet me.  
  
"You in Lucca?" I asked.  
  
"Fine, but if we get caught I'm kicking your butt!" she complained following us.  
  
Where the man went led straight to an elevator.  
  
"Wonder where this could lead." I said getting in and hitting down, the only available button.  
  
We felt the lift move down far, very far, as thought we were going through the ground into the earth.  
  
The doors opened and we were inside some kind of metallic hallway. It was barely lit and hard to see too far ahead.  
  
"He probably is far ahead by now so we shouldn't worry too much about being caught." I declared walking along our linear path.  
  
We got to this wider area and a series of machines appeared in front ready to attack us.  
  
"Guess they don't want visitors." I said drawing my weapon, as Lucca drew her daggers and Tucker always had his Rod out.  
  
Sending a Fire spell at one it fell to the ground and was destroyed. The other two were larger though, with longer arms with spikes attached to the ends.  
  
"Let me handle this!" Lucca declared running to one and taking something from it, she must have stolen something.  
  
"That really didn't accomplish anything." I said. Then the machine she stole from literally fell to peices.  
  
"Silly boy." she giggled as the last machine was waiting to be destroyed by a good Rough Divide.  
  
Slashing upwards the foe was cut up the middle and fell to the ground in half. My level increased and I was informed that I learned "Fated Circle" which attacked all enemies but cost 25 MP to use, and I only had 30 MP total.  
  
"Let's keep going!" I shouted running onwards.  
  
Eventually we were in this large generator room and there was the suited man talking to a thinner suited man. They were talking about something.  
  
"I can't hear them." I whispered.  
  
"Let me try." Lucca whispered back. She pressed the side of her headgear and we could hear the conversation a little better. It was playing directly into her headset.  
  
"Did it go well?" the thin man asked.  
  
"Yes, those players are still fooled." the other responded.  
  
"Good we cannot afford for them to know the truth about the game."  
  
"But what if one or more of them succeed in killing that monster?"  
  
"I highly doubt that is possible. Necros is a very powerful girl. And without her we'd lose control over part of the game."  
  
Necros? That monster in the black armor is Necros. Than the Necros in that black robe and the armored monster are the same person. This makes even less sense.  
  
"Where is she?" the larger man asked.  
  
"Her avatar is currently in hiding. The girl is still resting well. We plan to relocate her avatar to another server area." the thin one answered.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Highland Capital. Then people will begin to think she's a virus or hacker that is restricted to one area."  
  
In all the talk Tucker managed to let his Rod slip and fall to the ground, making a little too much noise.  
  
"What was that?" the thin one demanded.  
  
"Uh oh! Not good." Lucca said turning her headset off.  
  
"This would be a good time to run." I said as we crept away but soon found that a group of guards were waiting for us.  
  
"Stop! This is a restricted area!" One of them said aiming a gun at us.  
  
"Lucca Log Out!" Lucca shouted but nothing happened.  
  
"We'll decide when you log out or not!" the guard said as his underlings quickly detained us.  
  
I woke up in a room strapped to the wall. Lucca, Tucker, Ashley, and Heather were all there too.  
  
"Ashley, Heather! How did you two end up here?" I asked them.  
  
"I don't know. I was just sleeping and then woke up in the game." Ashley said.  
  
"Same with me. What did I do wrong?" Heather complained.  
  
"We're stuck here I guess." I told them.  
  
We were strapped by our ankles and across our chests with our hands tied down as well.  
  
"This isn't very good. I'm sorry it was my fault." Tucker said lowering his head.  
  
"Don't worry Tucker. I dragged us down there." I told him.  
  
"They'd better let us go soon. This is really starting to hurt." Heather shouted. Out of all of us, she was strapped the worst, due to her large chest the strap over them was starting to press into her, which I can imagine must hurt for a girl.  
  
"How will we get out of here?" Lucca asked us.  
  
"I'm not sure." I said lowering my head. They must have gotten to Ashley and Heather through me. How else would they know?  
  
Then that strange little boy I encountered earlier appeared in front of us.  
  
"It's you!" I yelled.  
  
"I am sorry for what happened to all of you. But the company does not want you finding out too much. I can free you all but please be more cautious." He said as magically our straps were undone. Heather let out this big sigh of relief.  
  
"But I can't give up now. I want to know more about it!" I protested to this child.  
  
"My sister is the monster in the armor as you may already have guessed. She does this because she cannot help it. It is her nature." he explained.  
  
"Her nature?" Tucker questioned.  
  
"Yes, she is what you'd call my 'evil twin' and she takes pleasure in the pain of others. And if they move her to the Highland Capital then she will only continue to destroy more." he pleaded.  
  
"How can we stop her?" I asked.  
  
"By killing the monster in the black armor you will free her from this violence. She does not wish to continue doing it either. She would rather die than support this world." he told us.  
  
"Support this world? She's killing people though, that's hardly support." Ashley said.  
  
"I'd tell you more but you aren't ready to know. I will send you back now." he told us. Before we could respond I woke up in my car in my driveway.  
  
"What happened? This is getting weird." I said walking inside and checking my mail before going to bed. It was 11:30.  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Necros  
  
Subject: My brother  
  
My brother has told you about me. It is true, I am the monster in the black armor. If you wish to learn more than follow a convoy taking my body to Highland Capital leaving tomorrow morning at 5am. Bring whoever you wish.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Lucca  
  
Subject: Weird  
  
Wow, I never thought meeting up with you would lead to this. I'm concerned about this monster in black armor too and I'll help in any way possible. Please call me up.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Ashley  
  
Subject: Sorry  
  
I'm so sorry about today. I lied to you. I really wasn't sick at all. I was just so afraid to log back into the game again because I was afraid I'd die from it. But please call me anyway so I can help you out in the future. I hope I don't let you down. And I've been able to control my summon now. It's useful.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
That explains why she didn't seem too bad in the game. Even though it is just a silly game.........or at least I hope so.  
  
Emailing all the people I've met so far, Tucker, Lucca, Heather, and Ashley, I told them about tomorrow morning and how I'm gonna see what can be done about Necros. I know I'm only at Level 10 but I still have to do something to stop these killings from happening.  
  
Well review and tell me what you think. I hope the story is progressing well enough. At least it made it farther than my other original fics I've written. 


	8. Wanderers May be Exiles

Sorry for lack of updating lately. And to reiterate I don't own Final Fantasy related materials like the classes, weapons, certain names, etc.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Wanderers may be Exiles  
  
I woke up early at 4:30 and went to get online. I just hope some of my friends would be there. I didn't bother to check my mail before I went in.  
  
Once Logged In I checked my Compact Menu and found that Lucca was the only person online. Makes some sense. She looked a little older than a teenager and Heather needs beauty sleep, and Ashley and Tucker are still just like little kids.  
  
I notified Lucca that I was here and ready to go. She came running to my dorm room and we set outside along the mountains.  
  
"You sure you know where this convey will be?" Lucca asked me.  
  
"Not entirely but I've heard Highland Capital is in the direction we're headed so they have to come this way." I explained.  
  
"Sounds good enough." she said mustering a loud yawn.  
  
"Tired?" I asked my companion.  
  
"Yea. I guess my real body must be yawning too and the game is projecting it." she said rubbing her tired eyes.  
  
"Mabe if we go up higher we can see them from here." I suggested.  
  
Lucca agreed and followed me up the mountain path but not too far up. We could see most of the small plain between the mountain and the ocean. In the distance was a large truck with a series of people around it walking.  
  
"That must be it." Lucca said.  
  
"Now what should we do? We can't just rush in headfirst." I told her.  
  
"We have to find a way to follow them closely." she said.  
  
"Let's just trail them but keep our distance." I stated moving forward.  
  
The convoy didn't seem to notice us and as long as we made sure they didn't we'd be fine, but how are they transporting Necros? She's way too powerful to control like this, something doesn't add up here.  
  
Then something happened. A large explosion occured on the transports and the beast in the black armor was released.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Lucca asked. The explosion shook the area and we toppled down nearby the area.  
  
"What caused that?" I asked.  
  
"Eliot!" I heard a familiar voice from behind. It was Ashley, and Heather and Tucker were with her.  
  
"Sorry we're late. We tried to log in as soon as we could." Ashley explained.  
  
"Well let's go!" I said leading them further into the debacle.  
  
We stood face to face with the beast. It was even more menacing to look at since I first laid eyes on her. Necros knew us too and prepared to strike.  
  
"Here we go." Heather mumbled.  
  
Necros lunged at us and knocked us down from the wind she created with such speed.  
  
She then began to strike us with her crucifix but blocking the attacks proved to be very hard. She was very powerful. Tucker kept back and healed us whenever he could and it was always needed.  
  
"This isn't looking good. What's her HP at?" Heather asked.  
  
"My readout says its........." Lucca studdered.  
  
"What what is it!?"  
  
"Infinite." Lucca said just amazed.  
  
This can't be. Necros has and infinite amount of HP. That means no matter how long we beat on her she won't even be dented.  
  
As Necros was about to hit us again we saw this cannon being wheeled in behind her. People were arming it.  
  
"Keep her busy. We'll take care of this." Somebody said into Lucca's earpiece.  
  
"Easier said than done whoever you are." Lucca answered back behind struck to the ground.  
  
Tucker used a Pheonix Down and she was back on her feet at half strength.  
  
We held off Necros for what seemed like forever until the cannon charged and fired at her. It hit her directly and she screamed out in pain from it. She tore around in midair and her armor shattered from her form. She lay there slumped in midair, her armor cracked and completely broken at some parts. Her helmet was gone and a yellow light with blue hair was under it.  
  
"I got a new reading!" Lucca declared. "Her HP is 1000. That blast must have done something."  
  
Now Necros was vulnerable to us. Whatever shot her was damn powerful. I took charge and Fated Circled her with the remainder of my MP. She was falling down to 900 HP. We all let loose with skills until once she reached 500 HP she did something. She threw her crucifix in the air and sent these rock spears at us somehow. They were about to strike.  
  
"Go!" I heard Ashley shout. Just then a gigantic rock creature appeared in front of us and blocked the shots.  
  
"What's that?" I asked.  
  
"Remember that summon from my first day with you. I wasn't gonna not use him forever." she explained.  
  
"Little girl had some power. What is that thing though?" Heather asked.  
  
"It's Golem. It's a monster that can guard for the players, until it runs out of HP."  
  
Golem then vanished. He must have run out.  
  
We pounded on and on and finally at 24 HP.........  
  
I cut her with my Gunblade pulling the trigger. Her armored form began to shake violently and her crucifix dissolved into nothing as her body began to degenerate into the cloaked figure we all knew.  
  
This time her cloak was shred and it was a little girl. She looked no older than 6 years old.  
  
She looked like she was about to fall to the ground when Heather ran up and held her up.  
  
"You did it. Finally." she said.  
  
"Did what?" I asked "Just what the hell is going on!?"  
  
"I am special to this world. And what I am about to tell you is a well kept secret."  
  
"Secret?"  
  
"This world is not a game. It is all real. Why else does everything feel so real to you. No such technology exists yet." she explained.  
  
"Then how are we here?" I asked.  
  
"I am one of four special children. We each control one of the servers with out minds. It is very hard to do. We are enslaved to constantly keep it up. I am one of the evil children. My brother is the one of the good ones. The four of us don't want to keep doing this, but as you can see our bodies don't want us to die which is how the monsters we become came to be."  
  
"I get it. You four want to die but your body has some sort of defense system that will engage when threatened, right?" Lucca said.  
  
"Yes. We want to be killed so we can be free from this burden. The only way to do that would be through this world."  
  
"Wait, if we are here than where did our bodies go?" Ashley asked.  
  
"The device you use to access is where we take your mind and project it here. This explains why people die from playing. However if everybody died when they lost in the game then this wouldn't be successful. Only the people aware of the truth here that this is real are vulnerable."  
  
"How?"  
  
"It's simple really. People who think its a game obviously think they can't actually die so their minds don't let them, but if they know its real than their minds will make it so." Lucca explained.  
  
"But now what do we do?" Tucker spoke up.  
  
"Please, if you want all this nonsense in this world to end you must kill the rest of my siblings. Without them the world here cannot exist." Necros said before fading from Heathers arms.  
  
In a moment she was gone.  
  
"Well not much choice now. I suppose we have to go after these kids then." I said to everyone.  
  
"But first you're coming with us!" A man in thick armor said.  
  
I'm am really sorry for such a long delay. And I hope it doesn't get stale after this chapter. Thanks for bearing with me and reviewing anyway. 


	9. Blood

Man, I haven't updated this fic in a mad long time. Oh well I'll try to pick up where I left off successfully.  
  
Final Fantasy: World  
  
Blood  
  
These armored men all took us into this strange gateway and we were inside this old castle like building the next thing I knew.  
  
"Wait here. The boss will be along in a moment." One of them said locking all of us in the room.  
  
"I'm scared guys." Ashley said shivering with fear.  
  
"Me too. Who are these guys anyway?" Lucca said adjusting her headgear.  
  
"Well maybe they know about Necros. They were the ones who fired that cannon at her. I say they aren't so bad." I told them. "Besides if they were bad they would have killed us by now."  
  
Everyone got silent after I said that.  
  
"Eliot! You do realize that we can actually die here now right? I mean you hear Necros, she said once people become aware than they can be killed because their minds lets them." Heather said crying a little.  
  
"Sorry." I said hesitating. The metal door opened and a large muscular man stepped forward. He was about six feet in height and he wore a gas mask so I couldn't tell what his face looked like.  
  
"Greetings." He bellowed. "My name is Blood, and I am the leader of the Hackers."  
  
"The who?" Ashley asked still afraid.  
  
"We are players who know the wrong that is happening in this game but the only way we can fight it is to hack the game and do it that way." Blood explained.  
  
"So is that why you fired at Necros?" Heather asked. I'd imagine a big guy like Blood would start coming onto a sexy girl like Heather but he seemed unaffected by her appearance.  
  
"Yes. We knew you'd have no chance to kill her so luckily we were prepared. You just happened to show up at the right moment or we would have attacked ourselves." He said again in his deep voice.  
  
"I see. Well it seems that you guys have it under control." I said to him.  
  
"The thing is we don't. Now that Necros is dead we have the other three children to worry about. Our forces were depleted after many attempts at killing Necros. In fact you saw one of our soldiers try to kill her. Remember?" He asked me.  
  
My memory switched back to when I first saw it face to face and that armored man helped me but was killed by her in the end.  
  
"That makes sense. I thought he was some random player or something." I said.  
  
"He was my older brother. That bitch took him away from me!" Blood said losing it a little but regaining his composure.  
  
"Well what is your reason for having us here?" Tucker spoke up at him.  
  
"We want you to do some tracking for us. The children obviously have parents and they are held in the real world. We can help create some distractions for you to find out things about them." Blood told him.  
  
"How? We're in the game and we can't really do much in the real world." Heather asked.  
  
"Actually both worlds are very similar. Since this world actually exists and isn't some game world it has many options. These two worlds are parallel to one another so whatever happens here happens there and vice versa. Quite useful if you ask me." Blood said smirking.  
  
"Where are they located at?" I asked, I'll admit this was something I'd be interested to learn more about.  
  
"We'll email that information to you later. For now it would be best to log off and get some rest." Blood said.  
  
"Sure, I could use some relaxation." Heather said.  
  
"However, we have to log you out from here, and you'll end up in the same place. Its just how our hacked server is set up." Blood explained.  
  
"Wait if this isn't a game how can you hack it?" Lucca asked.  
  
"This world can be manipulated with some advanced technology. It's very complicated. Well we're going to log you out now." Blood said as we all disappeared.  
  
We ended up in some field that was about 20 minutes from my house.  
  
"I don't live here. I'll have to walk home." Ashley moaned. Actually for the first time I actually saw who these people were.  
  
Ashley was almost identical to her avatar. She was short like the majority of girls were and she wore tight jeans and a pink jacket and she had red hair and brown eyes.  
  
Heather looked the same. Long brown hair, semi tall, large breasts, and blue eyes.  
  
Lucca was between the height of Heather and Ashley with short shorts, a red tank top, with blonde hair and red eyes.  
  
Tucker was a little kid about the age of 10 like you'd think. He wore shorts, a t shirt, and had brown hair and two different colored eyes, green and red.  
  
"I can call a cab for us." Lucca said taking out her cell phone.  
  
"Not for me. I live here and can get home easily." I said.  
  
"Yeah, I'll come too. My house is way to far to get from here." Heather said.  
  
"You can't just invite yourself." I told her.  
  
"Please? I won't bother you." She begged. If it was one thing I couldn't stand it was begging me for something.  
  
"If my roommate doesn't mind then I'll be fine with it I suppose. And don't hug me." I said knowing she was about to.  
  
We all said our goodbyes and I walked home with Heather in tow.  
  
"Well here we are." I said stepping into my house. My roommate was home and he was more than happy to let Heather stay the night. He was talking to her breasts the whole time though. Some people can be so immature.  
  
During the night I was reminded of her and decided to go visit her while everyone was asleep. Heather was sleeping in my room; my roommate gladly gave up his bed for the couch.  
  
I went down to the graveyard and just stood there for awhile. Then somebody was behind me, it was Heather.  
  
"Why are you down here so early? It's only like 3 in the morning." She asked.  
  
"I'd rather be left alone here. This isn't something I want people to know about." I told her without turning to face her.  
  
"Come on Eliot. Share with your friends once in awhile." She said walking next to me looking at the tombstone in front of me.  
  
"Someone you know?" she asked.  
  
"If I tell you than you can't say it to anyone else, understand?" I firmly said.  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
"This is my girlfriend. She died a year ago. She was one of the most important people I ever had in my life and she was dead is just a few months after I met her. I never want that to happen again so making friends too close is something I avoid. And I feel liking someone else will betray her. That's the reason I hid my feelings that day when we were in the training center." I explained to her. "I've felt bad ever since I realized that the game world was real because when you hugged me it wasn't just some game interaction, it was real."  
  
Heather was crying now. Not sobbing or making noise but tears were rolling down her big cheeks. She was torn between what to do. I knew she wanted to hug me to console me but after telling her I didn't want it she was holding back.  
  
"Eliot. I had no idea. I'm sorry I didn't ask sooner. But please just let me hold you for now. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if someone held you for something like this." She pleaded, still crying.  
  
"I suppose I don't mind now." And no sooner had I finished did she wrap her arms around me and squeeze me to death. She began to sob on me now.  
  
"Why are you so sad about this? It didn't happen to you." I told her. Human behavior was one thing I was planning to study when I got to College because it was something I wanted to understand better.  
  
"I'm sad for you. Why else would I be crying over you?" she said half weeping and half yelling.  
  
After a few minutes she settled down and I went back to the house, she followed too after reading the tombstone.  
  
"Here lies Emily Davis. 1984-2003. Daughter, student, lover. May my friends and family find peace." Which was engraved on it.  
  
I slept more but then I felt something get in with me. "Heather, what are you doing?" I asked her.  
  
She didn't say a word but went behind me and held me close to her. Her breasts pushing against my back. "Just let me have this moment Eliot. I want you to feel safe and I want to feel safe too. Please?" she said.  
  
"Fine, but don't expect this stuff daily or even monthly for that matter." I grumbled falling asleep again. I will admit I slept better with her around me.  
  
We both awoke and I checked my mail with her fixing breakfast. My roommate was in his room getting talked to by his girlfriend for oogling over Heather.  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
To: Eliot  
  
From: Blood  
  
Subject: Today  
  
Eliot. Here are the details about the operation. In a few hours there will be a power outage around Central Street and inside building 70 is where the children's parents are. With no power you should be able to move in easily. Once you find them do not attempt to remove them from Building 70. Only get information about their children for us. Maybe we can learn more about how to defeat them.  
  
You owe us nothing for this, but you've destroyed Necros so I imagine that you are the most capable people for this job. I'd wish you luck but I'll save that for people who are in need of it.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
"Is that about today?" Heather asked.  
  
"Yeah seems so. I think the others got word of it so no need to notify them." I said standing a getting ready to leave.  
  
Heather didn't have to get ready. She didn't change clothes because she didn't have another pair with her.  
  
"One more thing. Do not tell anyone what you found out this morning." I said firmly again. I had to; this was one of the most private things to me.  
  
"Okay. But doesn't it make you feel better that you can share this with someone?" she asked. I didn't answer I just got into my car and she soon followed.  
  
Well this chapter was short but hopefully it was good. It's hard juggling three fics at the same time. 


	10. Loss of Me

First off I'm very sorry that I haven't written in this thing in a mad long time. So hopefully I can renew the writing spirit in this.  
  
Final Fantasy World, Chapter 10  
  
Loss of Me  
  
I got into my car and Heather was in the passenger's side next to me. We began our drive down to Central Street. It was a couple miles to get there so we had some time to talk.  
  
"I'm sorry for learning about what happened to you." Heather apologized right away.  
  
"I told you before it wasn't that big a deal to you. Let's just drop it for now." I told her turning down the next street.  
  
Her red hair was the same length it was in the game. She looks basically the same as you'd imagine her to.  
  
"How's your modeling career going?" I asked her. I didn't really care much about that but I wanted to change the subject.  
  
"It's doing fine. I got a bunch of agencies wanting to use me for some photo shoots and stuff. You think I really have what it takes?" she asked me.  
  
"I can't judge that." I told her.  
  
"No, I guess you can't." she replied sounding sad. Why do people take some things so literal? Just cause I can't say doesn't mean it isn't good or anything.  
  
"Well this Building 70 should be close by." She said looking out the window.  
  
As I parked the car in an empty space by the big building suddenly a large electrical surge began a few feet away in the town. I guess that must be Blood's little distraction.  
  
We saw a number of people running towards the disturbance while Heather and I were entering the small building. Well warehouse would be the more accurate description instead.  
  
Inside were a number of doors.  
  
"You take one side and I'll take another." I told her running and opening the first door.  
  
After about 20 doors combined we found two people in one of them.  
  
"I think I found them Eliot!" Heather called out to me as I came running.  
  
"Who are you?" the man asked. He looked to be in his twenties and the woman next to him appeared the same. They looked a little beaten up.  
  
"Are you the parents?" I asked them.  
  
"Unfortunately we are. I suppose you've come to save us." The man told us.  
  
"We can't. We came for information about them." I told them.  
  
"I'll tell you all you want to hear. Please just save them from their torment." He begged.  
  
"We were really just average parents. I gave birth to them all the same day, two boys and two girls. We thought we would be happy." The wife explained.  
  
"We had no idea the children possessed such talents that they had. Creating other worlds as it were and shaping it to their will." The husband broke in.  
  
"Well why do they want us to kill them?" Heather asked.  
  
"They don't like what they're going through. They were taken from us just a year ago and we were taken with them too. It is terrible, being captured by the same people but unable to see them." The wife explained starting to weep.  
  
"They found a way to hook them to machines and use their brain patterns to create that other world. It reacts both to mechanical inputs and also input from another person." The husband told us.  
  
"So that explains why most players don't die if they don't know about the truth. Once a person knows their thoughts that must input that they can be allowed to be killed." I thought aloud.  
  
"We suspect that must be one cause. However we have no idea why they wanted to use them." She told us.  
  
"Then if they want to die so badly why did Necros become that monster in the black armor?" Heather asked.  
  
"They have this instinct in them that won't let them die. Their body puts up a fight for it. And who is this Necros?" he asked.  
  
"She was a short little girl that liked to hide her face to us." I answered.  
  
"They called her Necros? We know who you mean. Her real name is Natalie and she is just shy." She told us still sobbing a little.  
  
"Well I'm sorry to say but we killed her." Heather told them both. She regretted it, I could hear it in her voice. But why? Either Necros killed us or we killed her. It was for the greater good.  
  
"Don't worry. It's what they want. I'm sure of it." She told us crying more.  
  
"This is all we know about them. If you can...kill the other three than the other world will cease to exist." He explained to us.  
  
"We got what we came for. By the way what are your names?" Heather asked them.  
  
"This is Kim and my name is Cid." He told us as the two of us left.  
  
Soon we were back in my car and heading back to my house, well Heather wanted to go back to her house so she could log in on her name. I dropped her there and went back home.  
  
Logging in was quick and easy. I was dropped back in the Garden like usual.  
  
"Is anybody else here?" I asked checking my menu. Ashley and Heather were both here and waiting near the Training Center. I grabbed my Gunblade and began to jog there.  
  
"There he is!" Ashley yelled to me as I approached. We didn't know where to go but Ashley had an idea.  
  
"Well while you two were finding out stuff in the real world Tucker and I went with some of the hackers and we were finding out stuff about the game from here." She explained.  
  
"And what did you find out?" I asked crossing my arms.  
  
"Well there is this one building between the servers that we found that could contain a lot of stuff about this place." She said smiling. It didn't sound pleasant.  
  
"Where's Tucker then?" Heather asked.  
  
"He's waiting nearby there. He was acting kinda funny when it was just the two of us though, maybe his character data is getting screwed up." She said.  
  
"Well let's go. Lead the way Ashley." Heather told her small, young, friend.  
  
She led us out to this large field and there was indeed a building built into the side of a mountain there.  
  
"Well who's going inside?" Tucker asked us.  
  
"Me, Heather, and Ashley will be going inside. You stay here and try to contact Lucca if she's online. Ready?" I asked the team. I hid my remorse for being the leader of this small group, it was a pain.  
  
The three of us marched head first into the building with weapons ready but nobody was guarding the entrance or the inside where we were.  
  
"It seems safe enough." Ashley said walking forward carelessly.  
  
"Ashley! Wait!" I screamed to her. It made her stop dead but it was too late.  
  
"I see you've made it. You kids are a little nuisance, killing Necros like that! Well now I'm going to take something from you now!" a mysterious voice said as Ashley's body began to shake violently and then soon all the color was drained from her and she fell lifeless to the floor.  
  
"Enjoy!" it told us as Heather grabbed Ashley's body and we ran as fast as we could outside. The voice cackling behind us.  
  
We set her on the grass outside. Her entire body, robes included, was all a dull shade of gray. What happened to her?  
  
"I can try to heal her." Tucker offered.  
  
I nodded to him.  
  
"Cure!" he shouted as green and blue lights and sparkles surrounded Ashley, but they had no effect on her condition.  
  
"It's like she isn't even here." Heather said to herself as Ashley's body began to dissolve into the air.  
  
It happened again! I lost someone close again! I met her the first day I played this game and she wasn't that bad to be around and now she's gone!  
  
We all logged off after a couple minutes knowing nothing more could be done.  
  
I checked my mail and got three. From Heather, Blood, and someone unknown.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
From: Heather  
  
To: Eliot  
  
Subject: Ashley  
  
I'm so sorry Eliot. I know you didn't mean this to happen to her. But we have to work together now if we hope to put a stop to more of the same to other people...  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
I deleted it after reading all that much. I didn't want to work with them again. I had let them down and I don't deserve to put them in more harm. I'll handle this on my own.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
From: Blood  
  
To: Eliot  
  
Subject: Good work today  
  
It seems our plan went off well. Heather e-mailed me the information learned. It's good that we can count on you for future work.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
Screw you Blood! That bastard doesn't know working with him isn't fun or rewarding.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
From: ??????  
  
To: Eliot  
  
Subject: Wanted, Gunblade Expert  
  
Hello there my little moron. Seems your friend lost her mind today. Oh well I have that problem when I touch people. No I'm not one of the four children so don't bother even thinking that. Well if you want to see her again then you must meet me outside the Garden tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM sharp. If you don't do so I'll be forced to destroy your computer from where I am here.  
  
Well I do look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Bring friends, I enjoy more than one victim usually.  
  
Insanely Yours, ??????  
  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
Hmmmm, this could be interesting. Well I don't want the others to know about this so I'm going this alone. Come the next day I'll get back Ashley and I'll do it on my own. To hell with teamwork!  
  
Again sorry for the lack of updates on this story. Well I hope this chapter makes up for it. 


End file.
